Gold investment on the rise as people 'take long positions'

Gold options floor trader Jonathan Jossen claimed yesterday (January 21st) that investors are beginning to take long positions in the yellow metal, Reuters reports.

The latest in a string of worrying developments for the banking sector arrived this week with the news that the Royal Bank of Scotland has posted the biggest loss in British corporate history.

With the government now set to issue a further rescue package for banks - on top of the considerable outlay from Washington in the past few months - Mr. Jossen explained that people are seeing the value of investing in gold.

He told the news provider: "It looks like they are waking up to the situation of the banking crisis.

"It's flight to quality, without a doubt. The rest of the world must be really going off the deep end. People are slowly building long positions in gold and commodities more generally."

Leading US bank Merrill Lynch claimed recently that it has seen a notable increase in gold buying among some of its richest clients in the past few weeks as concerns over the financial landscape persist.

As chief investment officer Gary Dugan explained in an interview with the Daily Telegraph: "People are genuinely worried about what the world is going to look like in 2009. It is amazing how many clients want physical gold."

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